Always Sakura
by The Unknown Warrior 11
Summary: To the people who knew Naruto and Sakura, it was obvious. To the people who knew them well, it was impossible to ignore. To those who knew them best, it was understood. A short story based on Billy Joel's "Always a Woman to Me." Implied NaruSaku.


**Hethra:** Hey everyone. It's been a long time since I've done a story for , so I decided to start up again, especially after having powered through all of Naruto to catch up to the new chapters (not the anime... can't stand fillers). So, I decided to give it a shot here with a short Naruto fic inspired by Billy Joel's "Always a Woman To Me". I'm not sure how this one will work out, but we'll see. I gotta get back into the swing of Fanfiction... too much British Literature this past year...

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, I'm just borrowing the characters for a bit.

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Uzumaki Naruto had always held his Sakura-chan in his highest regards. As a child, she was his greatest crush and though she shut him down time after time, she never dulled in his eyes, and he never stopped trying. As a teen she was his most sacred charge, something that he swore to protect no matter what, regardless of the way he felt about her. As a young man, she was his everything, even if, as far as he could tell, she still didn't like him in "that" way. He was happy being her best friend, and happy with her being his, though he wouldn't have complained if she decided she did want him. He was still a dreamer, ask anyone.

So it was no surprise that he knew her better than anyone. Was he smart enough to pick up on the little things she did around him that may have caused him to rethink her feelings towards him? No, not even close. Uzumaki Naruto was still as clueless as the day he had first met Haruno Sakura. To everyone else, it was obvious.

Kiba saw it in the way that that Sakura acted around him, the sound of her voice when Naruto was near. Ino saw it in the way Sakura acted when Naruto was out on a mission, when she was alone waiting for her best friend to return. Chouji saw it in the way Sakura would go with Naruto to the Ichiraku Ramen stand whenever he asked her, even though Chouji knew Sakura hated ramen. To the people who knew them, it was obvious. To the people who knew them well, it was impossible to ignore.

Yamato-taichou knew it in the way Sakura held herself in the presence of the blond ninja. She was at her best when he was around, and vice versa. The two made a perfect team. Tsunade-sama knew it in the way that Sakura threw herself into her training while Naruto was gone. She was always pushing herself until her chakra reserves were completely depleted in order to be there for Naruto at a moment's notice. Hinata knew it in the way Sakura spoke to her, though not often. Her voice in conversation with Hinata was too polite. Hinata could feel how careful Sakura was in their dealings together, always trying to avoid the sensitive topic of feelings and Naruto. To the people who knew Naruto and Sakura well, it was impossible to ignore. To the people who knew them best, it was understood.

Kakashi-sensei understood the pain that Sakura still held from the day Uchiha Sasuke deserted Konoha for Orochimaru. He had seen the pain in her eyes as the two boys flew at each other with murderous intent, and the fury in the young Uchiha's eyes at Naruto's impressive strength. He knew that Sakura had thrown herself far too deeply into her infatuation, and that her pain ran almost as deep. But he also knew that there was only one person who helped her with the pain, and only that one who had the capability to heal her completely. Shikamaru understood the history between the two best friends, and how difficult it was to traverse such dangerous grounds to come out victorious. Why threaten something good that you already had to take a chance on something that wasn't guaranteed? It was a bother to think about. But he knew that Naruto was the most determined ninja that Konoha had, even if it wasn't always a good thing, and he knew that only Naruto could make it a guaranteed thing. Gaara understood the desire to protect something that was special to you, something that was precious to you. He understood how much pain it would cause to be the one to hurt your precious someone, how it would be worse than dying. But he knew that if there was anyone who could handle that pain, and persevere in the face of it, it was Uzumaki Naruto. To those who knew Naruto and Sakura best, it was understood...

Had the people who knew Naruto, knew him well and understood, been around one sunny summer day when Sai approached Naruto nursing a bruised face, they all would have smiled. Naruto was sitting under a tree, napping in the shade when Sai plopped down next to him.

"Hey, Naruto..." he said, rousing Naruto from a dream of being a bird, flying above the clouds. He turned to look at Sai, mild displeasure written on his face.

"What?" He noticed the large bruise on Sai's face. He chuckled out loud. "How'd you do that?" Sai looked perplexed as he explained to Naruto.

"I read a book about people having two faces. I didn't understood, so I went to ask Sakura-san about it." It was Naruto's turn to look perplexed.

"Two faces? I don't get it..."

"Well, I asked her if I could see her other face. She didn't understand either, so I showed her the book. She laughed and explained that it meant that some people show people one side of their personality while hiding the other. I thought it made sense then, since she wears that other face when you're around her, so I asked her if it was like that." Naruto leaned back against the tree as he thought about what Sai had said. Sakura had another face for him?

"So then what happened?"

"She smiled at me... then punched me through a building. I don't think I'll ever understand people, Naruto-san. How can people wear two faces? How can someone 'kill with a smile' or 'wound with the eyes'? And with Sakura-san. How can she be so kind one minute, and cruel the next? It just seems like she's throwing shadows at people..."

Naruto sat in silence for a bit, thinking. It had been a long time since Sakura-chan had hit him. They had grown so close in the past while, doing missions together, and just hanging out in spare time, or walking around, or going for ramen... Sakura had even stopped freaking out about making sure that they weren't going on dates... it was weird to think, but things had changed between them. He wondered how much...

He was interrupted as Sai stood to leave.

"Anyway, Naruto-san, I just don't understand how you can deal with Sakura-san like that. She seems so complicated." Naruto stared at Sai as a light began to flicker on in his mind. He shrugged.

"I dunno, Sai. She's always been Sakura to me."

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**Hethra:** Alrighty then. Ok, it's not one of my best, but I kinda like it. Like i said, it's just a short something i decided to wirte, and i did it in about... an hour, so I'm not expecting great things of it. Don't try to place it anywhere in the manga, because it will not fit. It's... well, we're not in a good spot to write anything write now, too many loose strings to resolve with too many characters, but i decided a little feel-good fic would do well. I'm working on a longer Naruto fic right now, so we'll see if it's just gonna be a really long oneshot, or a multi-chapter thing.

Anyways, you all know the drill. Let me know what you think by clicking on that cute little review button down there. See you all later.

_ - The Unknown Warrior_


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